Dispatches – 9 October 2013

Where to start? The last few weeks have been so full of mind-boggling nonsense as to defeat a non-professional blogger such as I.

America; The land of the free

The stuff coming out of The States has held this Englishman transfixed. Even without a deep insight into the subtle? nuances of American politics, it’s plain to see that the gloss is fast fading from the polished image of the President. I can well remember the cat fights we had on James Delingpole’s blogs in the run up to Obama’s re-election. Those of us on the contrarian side of the cAGW debate tend, as a rule, to be right-of-centre libertarians. This, amongst other more science-led doubts, explains why we do not automatically accept the Malthusian, dystopic view of impending doom so beloved of the alarmist hate-mongers on the Left.

The vitriol poured out by Obama’s supporters had to be seen read to be believed. Sad to say, much of what we feared would come to pass has, indeed, arrived to bite the believers on their collective backsides. The sheer pettiness of the administration’s actions has brought a sense of despair to this blogger. How can it be justified to Barrycade war memorials (normally open to the public, unsupervised) and prevent US Veterans access to these emotionally-charged symbols of their sacrifices?

The Republicans wont back Obama’s call to raise the debt ceiling unless Obamacare is repealed or drastically amended. The impasse is destroying that benighted nation’s credibility, which is unfortunate for the rest of us.

One last word on this, as it’s quite beyond the average person’s comprehension.

United Kingdom politics

Mind you, if we think the US is peopled by some very odd souls, we really need to look at ourselves, long and hard.

Over the last few weeks we’ve suffered the annual circus that bears the jolly title of Party Conference Season. It’s a bit like Halloween but involves real, living people who only appear to resemble zombies. There was a time when I would watch as much as I possibly could; I would boo and hiss at the opposing parties and feel uplifted when my spokesmen told me about the bright, new future that lay within our grasp, as long as I remained loyal to the one true faith.

No more. I have become so disillusioned with British politics, I am more likely to believe that old joke – “Q: How do you know when a politician is lying? A: It’s when he/she starts talking.”

How am I come to this sorry state of affairs? Blame Global Warming (well, everything else is blamed on it, so why not my cynicism?). For the record, I am a lifelong Conservative voter despite my working-class background; I’m your typical ‘aspirational blue-collar worker’, used to a bit of dirt under his fingernails and a believer in raising my status in life via my own sweat and tears.

I don’t expect anyone to give me a fair shake. Life isn’t like that. To divert one’s mental and physical energy into a constant fight against perceived injustices and inequalities prevents you from dealing with them and improving your own circumstances.

It does seem as if the world has moved on and left me behind. But not in a good way. I appear to be an anachronism to the three main parties that form the rump of British politics. As far as I can see, the troika have no clue as to what the average ‘hard-working family’ thinks about the most common problems that they face on a daily basis.

The Labour Party have made a significant move to the left. Hints of nationalisation litter their vindictive, pathetic, whining, envy-laden diatribes. Here we have one of the architects of the ruinous Climate Change Act, Ed Miliband, lecturing the energy sector on how he’ll force them to control prices. The shear naivety of the man is beyond parody. It doesn’t take an economist to understand that loading additional green overheads on an organisation whilst at the same time preventing them passing those costs on to consumers will, inevitably, lead to collapse. Needless to say, the proposals were shredded within days. But, this is the clown who may well be our next Prime Minister.

The Conservative conference wasn’t much better, from the little I read or saw. The continual scrabbling to find a place on the moral high-ground already overflowing with sanctimonious left-wing liberals was a demeaning spectacle for a once great party. They have allowed the lefties to dominate the debate and lack the testicular fortitude to take them on and defeat them with sound arguments. Just sound bite after sound bite, thus, with no acknowledgement that while they are shackled to the two elephants in the room, the EU and the Climate Change Act, their posturing remains totally meaningless.

As to the Liberal Democrats. . . . . . . is all I have to say.

UKIP, while not perfect, offers a refreshing view on politics. Neither of the Left nor the Right, it is growing up and starting to get its act together. Whether it can keep the odd loose cannon under control whilst, at the same time, fighting to maintain its libertarian values remains to be seen. I’ve seen enough, though, to know where my vote will be going in 2014 and 2015.